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The musical, which opened at the Circle in the Square Theater
on Sunday night, was a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for
drama and enjoyed a sold-out, extended run Off Broadway.
It is based on the best-selling graphic memoir, "Fun Home: A
Family Tragicomic," by lesbian writer/cartoonist Alison Bechdel
about her dysfunctional family and childhood in rural
Pennsylvania in a funeral home run by her father, a closeted gay
man who also taught English.
Bechdel, played by three actresses at different times in her
life, comes to terms with her own sexuality and her difficult
relationship with her father in the non-linear musical.
"It's unconventional grist, to be sure, and musical theater is
better for it," said New York's Daily News. "The material is
handled with such delicacy and expertise that it speaks
universally about big things that matter: life, love, family,
surviving."
The New York Time described it "an extraordinary musical, which
pumps oxygenating fresh air into the cultural recycling center
that is Broadway," while the trade magazine Variety dubbed it
"New! Fresh! Original!"
Lisa Kron, a multiple Tony nominee, adapted Bechdel's book and
provided the lyrics for Jeanine Tesori's score for the show that
is staged in the round by director Sam Gold.
Actress Beth Malone is the adult Bechdel, as she reminisces
about growing up in the funeral home, which is shortened to 'fun
home' by the family. Emily Skeggs, as the college student, and
Sydney Lucas, as a child, are younger versions of the author.
"Each performance brings something distinctive yet inextricably
interrelated to the role," said "The Hollywood Reporter."
Michael Cerveris, a Tony winner for "Assassins," is Bechdel's
domineering father, Bruce, and Judy Kuhn is his long-suffering
wife Helen.
The New York Times said Cerveris has the toughest role is the
musical and handles it adeptly.
"Bruce just isn't a man with a double life, but a character
shaped with love and exasperation, recrimination and guilt by
Alison's recollection of him," it said, adding Cerveris is "both
irresistible and forbidding, warmly accessible and icily
opaque."
The Hollywood Reporter said "Fun Home" is a risky production for
Broadway, which tends to be mainstream.
"But for anyone who cares about adventurous musical theater,
it's not to be missed."
(Editing by Grant McCool)
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